Hi All! I’m working on an article for Lapidary Journal on secrets to
successfully selling silver jewelry. I know there are quite a lot of
you on here who work primarily in silver: would you be willing to
share your secrets of success? I’m looking for ideas for pricing,
marketing, etc. Is it really impossible to make a living working in
silver? What’s the best thing you’ve ever done to ensure your
success? What’s the biggest mistake you’ve ever made?
I believe that people will buy silver items for definite reasons:
either they do not like the yellow color of gold against their skin
tones, or the actual design of the piece “speaks” to them. Both of
these theories can be flipped to explain why people will select a
gold item - but that doesn’t make either theory any less relevant.
I think another - and, frankly, more important - reason some people
will select silver is purely one of finances. We know that silver is
significantly less expensive than gold - and the notion of “real"
silver is usually more appealing to a client than “real” gold filled
or gold plated - which, frankly, is somewhat of a substitute for
"real” anything. So, if the only “real” quality they can afford is
silver, that will be a major influence on their selection.
Personally, I think a designer/artist can make more money from
working in silver because the intial outlay is much less expensive
than gold AND if your designs are unique and appealing your mark up
can be significant - thereby increasing your profit margin.
I think that silver, in and of itself, is a very beautiful metal. I
prefer to work in it than in gold. It reflects light perfectly and
colored stones do not have their tone changed by the reflections of
gold. I detest platinum intensely - finding it hard to work in,
unforgiving of error and just plain painful to solder and polish.
The majority of the cost of a piece is in my work and time and it
using amore expensive metal makes only a proportional difference in
the eventual price of a piece. A pendant and chain in silver will
cost say $1000 and in 18ct $1400.
I’m away from my bench, in London UK , desperate to get back and
getting cranky!